Everybody Loves Raymond

...but now I'm hooked, and I've even bought 5 DVD boxsets of it! Its weird because its both subtle AND sharp humour.

Its about Ray Romano, a sportswriter who just wants a quiet life...but he has 3 kids (a girl and twin toddler boys) and Debra (his wife) who struggles to juggle housekeeping and being a mother because Ray just will do anything to stay out of her way and not help! Debra is not your typical sitcom mum. She's independent and opinionated, and a very good match for Ray - she keeps him in line!

His Italian American parents (Marie and Frank) and divorced 40 year old brother (Robert) stay in the same street and facing across from Ray & Debra's house. And they are never away from there - The parents are very loud, expressive, overbearing people, but they don't mean to be....It's just their way. The brother is quirky to say the least! he's 7 foot tall and has a voice like Eeyore from the winnie the pooh movies (he IS the voice from the cartoon). He has weird little habits and is a little obsessive compulsive and insanely jealous of his younger brother Ray. However, at heart they are good, caring people and the family are extraordinarily close...but you'd never know it by the drama and shouting that goes on all the time! This is where the comedy comes from....

Now, I am married to an Italian man and I know from experience what Italian in-laws are like! so this might be why I find this so funny....watching Marie (Rays mum) is like watching my MIL (only its not so funny in real life, believe me!!)

If you like Seinfeld, King of Queens (another sitcom which took ages to grow on me), CLASSIC Woody Allen movies, the film Mambo Italiano or My Big Fat Greek Wedding, then you'll like this. Give it a go, watch more than one episode and you'll end up hooked like me - I promise!

I'm not a big fan of TV. I think most of it is terribly contrived and has very little to do with the lives of normal people. This show is different. The fights they get into, the disputes, everything is true and funny. Ray is the beleaguered protagonist and his parents and brother are absolute scene stealers. This show is just wonderful. The writing is good and I can really see these sorts of things happening in my family. It is much easier to watch when it is someone else's family though.

My favorite character of Everybody Loves Raymond is Robert. Robert is the poor soul whose mother obsesses over Raymond and gets no respect from his father. Raymond is a whiny mother's boy and in order to put up with Raymond and his family Debra is a screeching shrew. Robert is the most tolerable character.

Everybody Loves Raymond is an all-time classic. It's a sitcom that is hilarious because of how realistic it is. It's your everyday family that will remind you of your own. Even though Ray Romano is the star and very funny it's the supporting cast (Brad Garrett, Peter Doyle, Doris Roberts) which separates this from other great sitcoms. While it may not be the best supporting cast ever it's definitely up there. This is a show that's been done numerous times before but not nearly as well. It's also one of those comedies that you can rewatch as many times as you want and it'll still make you laugh.

It took me a long time to get into this show because most of my friends kept putting it down. I'm now addicted to ELR and bad luck if nobody else I know admits to watching it! Apart from 'Becker' no other current American comedies really appeal to me.

What do I like about ELR? The way Ray sets off events without knowing how, then stands back and watches the results of his unconscious actions. Both the cast and the scripts are first-rate. Robert of course has to be my favourite character; he reminds me in some ways of Jack Benny. Favourite episode has to be the one in which Ray's parents back the car through the front wall. One of the great moments of television!

Long may this series continue.